It seemed to hear the Little Witch's cry. The Black Goat slowly turned its head, revealing its scorched face.
More precisely, half of its face was scorched—the Black Goat looked as though an invisible blade had split it in two. Everything on its left side was normal: fluffy wool, bright goat eyes, sharp horns. Its right side no longer looked like a goat at all. The wool there had been burned away, and the skin from half its face had been stripped off, exposing dark-red muscles and tangled blood vessels. Without an eyelid to cover it, its enormous goat eye looked like a lightbulb, horrifyingly huge. One of its horns seemed to have melted in searing flames and drooped beside its ear, covered in bubble-like holes resembling those in basalt.
But none of that was the most terrifying part.
The most terrifying thing was something beyond the burning.
The flames on the Black Goat's scorched side had yet to go out. Dark-red fire burned at a slant, shrouded by a dense layer of shadow that danced along with the flames like phantom tentacles.
After just one glance, the pale-blue shield around Mai Dong seemed to be struck heavily by an invisible hammer, leaving a massive dent. The runes on the shield crackled as they fractured, spraying strings of golden sparks.
The Little Witch instinctively took a step back. Faintly, she heard a cacophony of chaotic prayers ringing beside her ears.
Nikolas!
Nikolas!!
Goddess of Dark Abundance!
Black Goat of the Woods, who bears countless offspring!!
Ishikawa Ukyo reached out and supported Mai Dong by the shoulder, helping her steady herself.
"Get the dwarf and the blind girl over here," the captain of the Kunpeng Hunting Team ordered without looking back. "It seems the Magic Circle in the Silent Forest won't